Smart home automation has been around for several decades in terms of simple appliance control and lighting. However, only rich people were able to automate their homes in the past. But now, more and more people are embracing the idea of smart homes, thanks to modern technology that has made home control systems more affordable and simpler. So, what exactly is home automation? Why do you need it? Find out the answers to these questions in this in-depth overview, if you want to read more about home automation Interior Design Toronto has great content for you.

What It Is

In simple terms, smart home automation is automating the control of your home to make life easier and more convenient for you. This can be as simple as opening your garage door or switching on the lights in your home with a remote control. Or it can be as complex as connecting all the appliances and devices in your home (like security system, thermostat, and lighting among others) to a central system that automates them based on your input. This allows you to control every aspect of your home from anywhere in the world using a smartphone, tablet or computer.

Why You Need It

So, why is home automation so important? Let’s find out some of its benefits below:

Security

Keeping your home safe is easier with the modern home automation systems. Security systems like smart smoke alarms, connected motion sensors and Wi-Fi-enabled cameras allow you to monitor your home 24/7 via text alerts, live video feed and emails. And if you are worried about your home keys ending up in the wrong hands, you can have automated locking systems (keyless entry systems) professionally installed to increase your home’s security.

Senior Independence

Home automation systems like voice activated alert systems and audible reminders can help seniors live more independently. Additionally, Wi-Fi connected cameras that have 2-way communication can help you keep an eye on your elderly loved ones when you’re unable to check on them physically.

Safety

Automated systems like smart sensors also help to prevent accidents in your home by detecting humidity levels, water leaks, motion, carbon monoxide, heat and other concerns and communicating directly with you wherever you are.

Convenience

Opening your door, having your stereo system play your favorite song and turning on the lights as you approach home, are just a few of the luxuries of having a smart home. But that’s not all, smart locks will let you grant access to some people in your home when you are not around or don’t have time to stay home. All they need is the right code.

Energy Efficiency

Home automation also allows you to run your home more efficiently. For instance, you can turn off your air conditioning system remotely when nobody is around. This can go a long way to save you lots of energy and money in the long run.

Automate your home today and enjoy increased security, convenience, safety, energy efficiency and so much more.

After several months of patiently waiting, Sony finally released the PlayStation VR (popularly known as PS VR). The PS VR can essentially be described as a virtual-reality head-mounted display or HMD which needs the PlayStation 4. It is characterized by a 3D stereoscopic display that has optics incorporated into it to allow users to directly place the screen in front of their eyes. In addition, it has with a convenient head-tracking system which serves to simulate positional awareness and depth all in a virtual environment.

What virtual reality is like Generally, what PS VR attempts to do is to immerse the user in a virtual environment so as to give them the feeling that they are at different places with their body. The feeling is popularly referred to as feeling presence by virtual reality enthusiasts.

It has an AMD graphics processor that can easily handle 3D processing. It has a display of 1920 1080 but it does not support 4k output. It also does not have HDR features.

When in use, the headphones should be plugged directly to the headset so as to utilize binaural 3D audio. This effectively makes the user feel like sound is hitting their ears from all directions. This is what makes everything to seem more real.

The PS VR comes together with stereo headphones, necessary cables such a USB cable and power cable, a headset and a breakout box that is inclusive of a demonstration disc which has a compilation of free PS VR demos and HDMI splitter.

Other than the obvious requirement of PlayStation 4, the user will require the PlayStation Camera from Sony to receive the full experience. Another requirement is the PlayStation Move Controllers that enable tracking of the position of a user’s hand when used together with the PlayStation Camera. This allows a user to pick up virtual objects and play with them. Lastly, there is an Aim Controller that is shaped like a gun. It should be noted that the standard DualShock 4 pad is still relevant with the PS VR. The PlayStation VR was released on the 13th of October 2016.

PS VR will retail at only $399 and buyers will be able to freely download Playroom VR.
Games The PlayStation VR will have games like Batman Arkham VR, Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission and Resident Evil VII Biohazard.

The above insightful information is what all PlayStation enthusiasts should know about PS VR. It ia definately somethnig that playstation lovers will love to have and enjoy the great features.

Watch enthusiasts have a tendency to prefer analog watches over digital ones. It is not difficult to imagine why this is when we are made to admire the workmanship and craft that goes into the classic analog watch that lies on the higher end of the quality spectrum. This remains true even when there are very stylish and high precision digital watches in the market. So it is not a matter of quality alone, but just the elegance that the device itself represents, the class it affords to its user through it’s sober yet highly aristocratic feel.

Things changed a bit when smart watches entered the playfield, for these were not just a new device with a different feel and presentation characteristics. We were talking about the future when smart watches came into the conversation. They were meant to blend several different functions into the classic watch. Many took this to mean that we would now be wearing a computer on our wrists, which is, technically speaking, correct, but it does not do justice to the way the elegance and feel of the watch is perceived in the human mind. Classical watch enthusiasts were divided, for being technology enthusiasts, they also wanted the new features, but they did not want to forgo the quality and elegance that came with the analogue watch.

Misfit Phase by the Fossil company, brings the two worlds together: the future of watches can now remain in the safe hands of those who appreciate and know the artcraft of the classic analogue watch. The Misfit Phase is designed so that the user does not feel or think that he is indeed wearing a smart watch, yet it is designed with all the capabilities that a standard smart watch would be able to deliver. This is where it gets interesting, because the Misfit Phase does not have the typical digital screen interface that would allow for a wide variety of symbol representations. It relies entirely on what can be expressed through the different positions of the hour and minute hands —even going to the point of assigning caller identifications and contacts through their positioning. The only other way of communication that this wonderful smart watch provides lies in a little dot that changes color in order to provide further notifications. The details of this will be left to the user to explore but the idea in itself is incredibly interesting and certainly innovative.

The world is dependent on artificial intelligence and now it about time that music systems and speakers became a part of this new era. And cool news came from SoundHound and Boombotix that have answered this call and have joined hands to build the first natural speaker where you can request your favorite song and it will play it.

Just like Siri in iPhone, all you need to do is tell “OK Hound, play something romantic”. It is time now to know more about this new generation speaker and how you can “Hound-ify” everything.

What is Houndify?

Boombotix smart speaker with SoundHound assistant has created audio speakers which will be played via voice command and regulated by artificial intelligence. However, voice recognition and artificial intelligence are nothing new as many smartphones and tablets have already installed this in their system.

Houndify acts like a virtual assistant that will help you play songs according to your mood. The techs are so advanced that you do need to specify a particular song to play; you just need to hint at the genre and the rest of it will be taken care of.

Primary technology used by Hound:

It will bemuse you that a sound system includes the World’s fastest Automatic speech recognition, unparalleled Natural Language Understanding and the swiftest software development kits. It is amazing to see such resources being put to use and create such a marvel.

Primary technology and specs used by Boombotix:

Boombotix stands out to be the leading producer of portable speakers and it has kept its forte and features a portable speaker that will be approximately the size of a clenched fist. A two-way communicating device, powered by a 10-watt subwoofer, a battery recharging point along with astounding music clarity.

It will be bolstered by noise-cancellation microphones and hands-free tech. With the help of Houndify, it will not only play music and songs; weather updates, match reports, search engine and day-to-day chores can be managed using this beast.

Powered by Houndify speech-to-meaning technology which is their trademark innovation; the interaction will be made as simple as possible.

It is set to release during the last quarter of 2017 and you can preorder it on Kickstarter. Boombotix is scheduled to ship it after the official launch. To get accustomed to the technology, log in to Houndify.com and download a free Hound-voice search assistant app in your iOS store.

Due to such advanced technology and user-friendly specs, the price is expected to be a north of $400. Though it is expected to come down a bit but this is surely something that you should treasure.

With the rising costs of living in today’s world forcing many people to cut on their bills and watch their dollars more closely, it is quite refreshing to know that one can now make phone calls absolutely for free without any catches or hidden charges at all. It is quite obvious that having a telephone or access to a phone, is more of a necessity today than a luxury even for young children. The revolutionary KNCTR now provides everyone with the power and ability to call any cell phone or land line in the USA and Canada absolutely for free, from any computer with an internet connection.

When Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phones started making their debut in the market, it was definite that there was a dire need to get cheaper ways of making phone calls as the current costs were very exorbitant and prohibitive indeed. Apart from being a premier social entertainment platform for any computer or desktop, KNCTR offers free phone calls in the USA and Canada without any cost at all to anyone using the software. There can never be any price cheaper than free, and this is really a great cost-cutting and money-saving solution to people of all age groups and walks of life.

For optimum performance, one will need to download and install the latest version of KNCTR from http://knctr.com/, and this only takes no time at all. After successfully installing KNCTR, one will see an icon that reads, “Click Here to Activate Your Free Phone” Upon clicking this icon, the user is required to complete a short and hassle-free registration form after which they have to click the icon that reads, “Activate Now.” At this point, one is ready to enter any 10-digit cell phone or land line (No +1 required), press the “TALK” button and call their loved ones for as long as they like. Use KNCTR and never will you have to pay another cent for this type of phone calls.

When you delete files from a PC that runs on Windows, the files aren’t really deleted and can even be recovered. The deleted files will still be on your computer’s hard drive until they are overwritten with some new data.

By using applications such as Eraser or CCleaner you can delete the files and make some space on your hard drive. However, there is also an application that comes integrated with Windows, named as Cipher. This application can overwrite deleted files and recover some free disk in the process.

How to use Cipher

In order to use Cipher, you will have to open Command Prompt. Even if most of the times, Cipher does its job without any problems, we suggest you to backup your files before taking actions.

Cipher is not a tool to overwrite deleted data, but it can be used to encrypt data too.

Opening command prompt

To open command prompt on Windows 8.1, press the Windows key + S and then write in the search box “command prompt”. In case you are using Windows 7, click on Start-> Run and then type in the box “cmd” and press enter.

For the standard scan you can use the command: “cipher /w:C” where “/w” stands for removing any data from the uncommitted space and the “c” stands for the partition it will scan, which in our example is the C: partition.

In case you want to scan another partition, just change C with another D or whatever the letter of the partition is.

When the scan begins, you will have to wait until the application is cleaning your partition. We suggest you to do this in the weekends, when you don’t have too much work to do on your PC, since this might take quite a while to finish.

When the cleaning finishes, you will find more space in the specific partition and you will notice that your PC runs faster than usual.

Using Eraser to overwrite deleted files

If you think that Cipher is too hard to understand, we suggest you another Windows tool that you can use, which is Eraser.

Eraser is an open source application, free and safe deleting tool for Windows. The application can also be scheduled to scan once a week and after you set it, you don’t have to worry about this problem anymore.

You can scan whichever driver you want from your PC while in any of these Windows versions. It can erase files, folders and previously deleted duplicated copies and it features schedule deletion of files.

Using Eraser on Windows Explorer

Most of the people will use Eraser via the Windows Explorer rather then scanning with it. When you want to permanently delete a file, just right click on it and you will notice a two options called Erase and Erase Secure Move.

Use those two new options to permanently delete the files you don’t want anymore on your PC.

If you are not using a forked version of Android, you most likely use Google Play Store daily. Whether you want to get a new application, search for one or want to upgrade a current application, you will do that via Google Play Store. However, after you search for an application, the searched text remains in Google Play Store’s history. What you don’t know is that you can delete the search history, manage the automatic updates, add a password to your Google Play account and many more.

Here are a few the tips and tricks that you can do on Google Play

Installing an application that’s not available in your country

We’re pretty sure that you’ve encountered this problem before. This happens if the application is not official available in your region or country. However, you can trick the Google Play Store by using a VPN and connecting with an IP that is from another country, where the application is available.

If you don’t want to use a VPN, you can just get the APK file directly from the Google Play Store and install it. Just make sure the “Unknown sources” are checked off, so that you can install APK files. To enable Unknown Sources, go to Settings->Applications and check Unknown Sources. Keep in mind that by doing this, you put yourself in a big risk, as you can download and install malwares on your Android device.

Android Device Manager

In case you lost your Android, or worst, it has been stolen from you, then by using the Android Device Manager, you can locate it. This is a great feature, but unfortunately it doesn’t come enabled by default. Once you enable it, you will be able to locate your device and even lock it.

Parental locks and restrictions

If your kids usually play from your device, then you should try to restrict what they can access and what they are not allowed to access. As we know, some web pages and some games from Google Play Stores should never land in your child’s hands.

You can use an application such as Kid Mode, which optimizes the device for your children so that they can play their favorite games, but still be limited to specific applications and features of the device. They won’t be able to make calls, send emails, or chat using other applications.

Try a paid application and get your money back

You can try out applications and still get your money back. There are two ways on getting a refund for a paid application that you don’t want anymore on your device. By using the 15 minute grace period, you will be instantly refunded the money you’ve spent or you can use the 48 hours grace period, which may take a bit of time until your account will be charged back with the money you’ve paid for the application.

When working on a computer, whether you’re at work or at home, you tend to run multiple programs at once and this might slow down your device and not to mention the distraction from your initial goal and you might not finish what you were doing, on time. To make your life easier, just group all the programs according to type, and it will be simpler to work with one group of programs, while the other will be hidden. Now, you won’t be distracted anymore and the desktop environment will be more “relaxed”. This is possible with a feature called Task Viewer, which comes with Windows 10 and depending on your purposes, you can use it to create multiple desktop environments.

First of all, decide upon the programs you’re about to use and launch all of them. They will be in your first group, let’s say the group that consists of programs you need for work.

If the taskbar is hidden, reveal it by moving your cursor toward the bottom of the screen. Then, you’ll have to click the Task View button, which is an icon illustrating two stacked windows.

Right after clicking the button, the operating system will show you a bunch of thumbnails of all the programs that run on the current desktop, plus an Add a desktop button, which you’ll see at the bottom of your screen. To create a new desktop, jut click than button and the system will take care of it.

To set an active desktop, just click the thumbnail of the desktop which contains all the programs you’ll use. Click the second desktop thumbnail and you’ll make it active. Inside of it, there will be no trace left of all the previously opened programs. All you need is a new list of programs to fill the desktop.

When you’ll need to access the other desktop, to switch between them you’ll have to come back to the Task View and selected the desktop you like. If you need to add another desktop, you’ll notice a plus button.

So, when you’re currently in one of the desktops, you will notice some programs having a little highlight below them, which means that you’re opened somewhere else, on the other desktop more precisely. When clicking on the icon, you’ll be sent to the desktop containing those programs.

If you no longer need a desktop and want to close it, it’s very simple. Go to Task View, move your mouse over the desktop that will be closed and just click the X button. Once the desktop is closed, all you opened applications will be closed as well.